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- Title
From Farmer Al Falfa to the Hopperdozer: Medicago sativa in North American Folkways.
- Authors
Dugan, Frank
- Abstract
Alfalfa was integral to the agricultural revolution in Europe because of the plant's soil nitrifying properties and was widely introduced throughout North America. American folkways eventually addressed planting, harvesting, plant protection, and uses of alfalfa as animal forage and human medicine. Tall tales and folk heroes featured the plant, and it was viewed as bringing luck and success. Alfalfa festivals, including Alfalfa Queens and Princesses (both human and livestock), became widespread in the West and Midwest. 'Alfalfa' was used to name fictitious as well as historical persons and places. Alfalfa, the world's most important forage legume, is scarcely represented in standard folkloristic references, a deficiency corrected by this compilation of North American folkways.
- Subjects
NORTH America; ALFALFA growing; PLANT protection; HARVESTING; AGRICULTURE; FOLKLORE; SOCIAL norms
- Publication
Economic Botany, 2016, Vol 70, Issue 4, p394
- ISSN
0013-0001
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s12231-016-9364-9